op 18 front pages-converted - The Watson Institute for International ...

areas within the former Yugoslavia. Jacques Cuénod, RPG
representative in Geneva, was instrumental in facilitating
communications with UNHCR and other organizations there.
The editorial skills of Fred Fullerton of the Watson Institute
and research and administrative assistance from Judy Ombura
of the Humanitarianism and War Project have strengthened
the final product. The assistance of Susan Costa of the Watson
Institute is also appreciated.
The issues reviewed range from specific to broad and from
immediate to prospective. The reader will encounter the difficulties
experienced by the U.N.’s humanitarian organizations
and will inquire, along with the authors, whether the world
organization would benefit from a new component entrusted
with the conduct of humanitarian activities in the context of
enforcement actions under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter.
The reader also will ask what lessons can be learned from the
day-to-day conduct of humanitarian efforts in the former
Yugoslavia and how these can guide future humanitarian
efforts there.
Concurring with Ambassador Stoltenberg about the pivotal
importance of the U.N.’s role in responding to the humanitarian
crisis in the former Yugoslavia, we are pleased to
make this report available to the international community.
During our concluding discussions in Zagreb, the latest in a
series of peace agreements failed to elicit agreement among all
the warring parties. This was but the most recent diplomatic
setback with wide-ranging humanitarian consequences. Disappointments
notwithstanding, we are convinced that the
lessons from the past should serve to guide the international
community in the former Yugoslavia whenever peace does
come, as it must, here and elsewhere.
Dennis Gallagher and Thomas G. Weiss
Zagreb, October 1, 1993
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